Sunday, August 9, 2009

If you got my borderline culturally insensitive reference to a really bad late-eighties hip hop band's song title, then good for you. If you didn't, trust me, you're really better off for it.

To say I'm busy right now would be a huge understatement, but I'm too busy to think of a more accurate way to put it. As you may know, I just got back from a press trip to Vail and Aspen, and have articles to write for About.com. This weekend is chock-full of SF Chefs. Food. Wine. coverage, and more articles to write, after which I leave Monday for a two-week trip to western New York.

After a couple weeks catching up with family and friends (and eating chicken wings, iceberg lettuce, and garbage plates), I return to San Francisco for just a couple days before driving down to Santa Maria, California for a three-day Tri-Tip expedition (which you will be hearing much more about).

After returning from the land of barbecued beef and pinquito beans, I have only a couple days to catch my breath before flying down to LA to meet my "people," aka Brand New Entertainment, to do some filming on what may be the first step towards becoming the Bret Michaels of unscripted food television.I will continue to post from the road as much as possible. Of course, as often happens when I travel, I will probably be doing some impromptu video production along the way. So stay tuned for that, and please bear with me on the email/comment replies, or lack there of.

Okay, on to the recipe du jour! This miso-glazed recipe features Barramundi, a mild, flaky white-fleshed fish that you'll probably be seeing more and more due to it's reputation as a sustainable, eco-friendly seafood.

It's showing up in grocery store frozen seafood cases, and chances are you'll run across some soon. If you do, buy it and make this recipe.

By the way, you have to love Wikipedia for finding out where a food's name comes from. According to God knows who, Barramundi is a loanword from a Queenslander Australian language of the Rockhampton area meaning, "large-scaled river fish". Of course it is.

This super-simple recipe uses a miso glaze which is very popular with restaurant chefs, but not a common home cook ingredient. Miso is a traditional Japanese sauce made with rice, soybeans, and sometimes barley, which is fermented with salt and the fungus, Aspergillus oryzae. Sounds good, right? It is, don't be afraid!

This glaze can be used on lots of different fish, so if you can't find Barramundi, any firm white fish fillets will work. I hope you give this a try. Enjoy!

Wow this is the perfect dish to have with a salad on a hot day um like today is,never had miso before so its something new to,i have read some people are addicted to miso soup though,your not getting us strung out are you Chef lol

good luck with the travels Chief John. your blogs and movies are truly wonderous and you only deserve the great success. your humor blasts through the computer screens and into our hearts. now, hopefully, we can get blasts through the TV as well.

I have to laugh that you're pumped for a trip to my hometown, Santa Maria. It never seemed like a culinary destination growing up. But enjoy the tri tip. And if you're gonna make a trip to the Hitching Post, go to Casmalia.

Chef John,i just had a white fleshed fish glazed with miso called saikyo miso. it is a white miso. (you can always google it:) if you can find it in japanese store, try it. you would love it. it is a bit sweeter and perfect for glazing fish or maybe even chicken.

I make my own kome miso using the traditional Japanese method. It takes at least 12 months to ferment the kome miso. I like to use the organic ingredients. This dish of barramundi is perfect for the miso. Thank you John for sharing.